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How to: Display Data or RSS Feeds from an External Source in a Dashboard

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Each application and workspace in Microsoft Office Live Small Business opens to a landing page called a dashboard, which provides an overview of the information contained in the application or workspace by consolidating lists, libraries, text, images, and other data into a dynamic information portal.

You can customize the information that appears on a dashboard by adding, changing, or removing Web Parts. One Web Part that you can add by using Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 is the Data View Web Part, which you can use to pull data from a variety of external sources, including Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and Web services, and display that data on the dashboard.

RSS is an XML-based system that makes it easy for you to receive the updated information up want. For example, you can subscribe to an RSS feed for a news item, newsgroup, blog, stock quote, Web site, calendar, and much more. Once you subscribe, you no longer need to spend time searching for the information or checking back repeatedly to see if the information has changed. Instead, updates and additions to the information are delivered to you, making it easy to stay informed.

To add an RSS feed to a dashboard, do the following in Office SharePoint Designer 2007:

  1. On the File menu, click Open Site, and then type the URL of your application or workspace as it appears in your browser's address bar. For example, let's say you want to edit a page in your domain contoso.com. If the Office Live Small Business subscription associated with this domain started as a Microsoft Office Live beta subscription, your URL is in this format: https://contoso.officelive.com. If this subscription started as an Office Live Small Business subscription, your URL is in this format: https://contosocom.officelive.com.

  2. When prompted, provide your Windows Live ID credentials.

    Aa973393.vs_note(en-us,office.12).gif  Notes

    If you aren't prompted to provide credentials:

    • Microsoft Windows XP
      1. In the Control Panel, open User Accounts.
      2. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Manage Passwords.
      3. Select any item with (Passport) in its title, click Remove, and then click OK.
      4. Click Close, and then click OK.
      5. Follow the steps to open your subscription in Office SharePoint Designer 2007 again.
    • Microsoft Windows Server 2003
      1. In the Control Panel, click Stored User Names and Passwords.
      2. Select any item with (Passport) in its title, click Remove, and then click OK.
      3. Click Close, and then click OK.
      4. Follow the steps to open your subscription in Office SharePoint Designer 2007 again.

  3. Navigate to the dashboard that you want to add the RSS feed to, right-click the file, and then click Open. For example, to open the Project Manager dashboard, right-click default.aspx in the Project folder.

  4. On the dashboard page, click the zone where you want the RSS feed to appear.

  5. On the Data View menu, click Insert Data View. The Data Source Library appears.

  6. In the Data Source Library, expand XML Files, and then click Add an XML file.

  7. On the Source tab, in the Location text box, type the URL of the RSS feed.

  8. If authentication is required, click the Login tab and provide credentials, and then click OK.

    Warning

    If you do need to supply credentials, see the security consideration for using the Data View Web Part in the notes below.

  9. In the Data Source Library, click the arrow that is next to the RSS feed you just added, and then click Show Data. The Data Source Details tab appears and lists the data that is available in the RSS feed.

  10. Select the data fields that you want to display on the dashboard.

  11. In the Insert Selected Fields as list, click Multiple Item View. The Data View Web Part is inserted into the zone.

  12. Save the file. The next time you open the dashboard, the RSS feed appears.

  13. Aa973393.vs_note(en-us,office.12).gif  Notes
    • All dashboards have the file name default.aspx. The main Business Applications dashboard is at the root level, while other dashboards are stored in the folder that corresponds to the dashboard's application.
    • In most cases, RSS feeds do not require authentication. If you do need to supply credentials, keep in mind that anyone who accesses the dashboard will use the same credentials to retrieve the data, regardless of their role (administrator, editor, or reader). In addition, the credentials are stored as clear text in an XML file, which means that anyone who accesses the dashboard files can read the credentials. For this reason, we recommend that you use the Data View Web part for data sources the do not require authentication.
    • When you edit in SharePoint Designer 2007, give your system ample time to process each task. If the desired result does not appear in a timely manner, try refreshing the page.